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Gray Maynard
Gray Maynard is a current featherweight and former lightweight fighter in the UFC. He was a competitor on the fifth season of the Ultimate Fighter and challenged for the UFC lightweight title twice in epic fights against Frank Edgar. Road to the Title His most recent fight was against Kenny Florian for the lightweight number-one contendership. Maynard dominated Florian absolutely en route to a unanimous decision to earn the number-one contendership. Epic Championship Battles: The Second and Third Edgar Fights He next fought for the title in a rematch against Frank Edgar. The two battled to an extremely controversial split draw, and Edgar retained the belt as Maynard remained undefeated. Maynard lost every single round of the fight except the first, which he unfortunately won dominantly with a possible 10-7 score. Dana White nixed the title shot that he had handed to WEC champion Anthony Pettis and gave Maynard an immediate rematch. Less than a month before the bout, both fighters suffered training injuries and had to pull out. The fight was rescheduled for fall later that year. Edgar defeated Maynard via fourth round technical knockout to hand Maynard his first official loss. Back to the Drawing Board After a brief hiatus in which he was also rumored to face Clay Guida, Maynard was next rumored in March 2012 to move to UFC's sister promotion Strikeforce to make his debut for the Strikeforce lightweight title against champion Gilbert Melendez. Instead Maynard finally signed to face Guida and remain in the UFC. Guida refused to consistently engage over the twenty-five minute main event bout but Maynard managed to earn a split decision -- and a whole new swarm of fans. After the fight, Maynard called out former UFC lightweight champion and his greatest rival Frank Edgar for a fourth fight. Instead, Maynard next signed to face fellow contender Joe Lauzon. Maynard was injured and replaced by Jim Miller who -- after defeating Lauzon via an exciting decision -- called Maynard out for a rematch. The Downfall Begins Instead Maynard next signed to face TJ Grant. After UFC lightweight champion Ben Henderson defeated former Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez it was announced that the winner of the fight between Maynard and Grant would receive the next shot at Henderson's belt. Grant defeated Maynard with a shocking first round upset knockout. Maynard next signed to fight a rematch - some might say rubber match - against TUF rival Nate Diaz. Diaz put on the performance of his career landing combination after combination of punches on a dazed Maynard before the ref mercilessly stepped in for a standing TKO. Maynard took some time off after the second straight (T)KO loss stating that he wasn't retiring but simply taking a break until the summer of 2014. In May 2014 Maynard signed to return against Fabricio Camoes. Instead he next ended up fighting Ross Pearson. Maynard showed brief success against Pearson before being knocked out in the second round by the fellow TUF veteran. After a decent layoff Maynard ended up welcoming former welterweight Alexander Yakovlev to the lightweight division. Again Maynard showed some success against Yakovlev but ultimately came up short in a unanimous decision loss to the bigger, taller man. The fight handed Maynard a four-fight losing streak. Featherweight Maynard took some time off after the Yakovlev loss and decided in early 2016 to return to fighting, dropping a weight class to compete at featherweight (145 pounds.) Maynard's featherweight debut would come against Fernando Bruno who Maynard defeated via a sloppy but unanimous decision. Maynard next signed to fight undefeated jiu jitsu practitioner and TUF winner Ryan Hall. Fights *Gray Maynard vs. Rob Emerson - The fight was the official UFC debut for both men. The fight ended in a rare no-contest via double knockout. Gray Maynard slammed Rob Emerson and knocked himself out accidentally with the takedown and Emerson simultaneously tapped from a rib injury sustained in the takedown. Maynard controversially remained undefeated. *Gray Maynard vs. Joe Veres - The fight was one of the fastest knockouts in UFC history. *Gray Maynard vs. Dennis Siver *Gray Maynard vs. Frank Edgar 1 - The fight was the first and thus only loss for Frank Edgar. Both men came into the fight undefeated, which is unsurprisingly rare. *Gray Maynard vs. Rich Clementi *Gray Maynard vs. Jim Miller *Gray Maynard vs. Roger Huerta - The fight was Roger Huerta's last fight in the UFC for a while as he wanted to pursue a movie career. Maynard came into the fight undefeated. *Gray Maynard vs. Nate Diaz - The fight was a rematch of their amateur bout on The Ultimate Fighter. *Gray Maynard vs. Kenny Florian - The fight was for the number-one contendership of the UFC lightweight title. *Frank Edgar vs. Gray Maynard 2 - The fight was for the UFC lighteight title with Frank Edgar defending. Maynard came into the fight undefeated. The fight ended in a controversial draw and an immediate rematch was scheduled. *Frank Edgar vs. Gray Maynard 3 - The fight was for the UFC lightweight title with Frank Edgar defending. The fight was the first official loss for Maynard. *Gray Maynard vs. Clay Guida - The fight was controversial for many reasons, the most prominent among them being Clay Guida's unpopular but effective Jackson-style gameplan and the fact that Maynard was awarded the victory despite that. *Alexander Yakovlev vs. Gray Maynard *Gray Maynard vs. Fernando Bruno - The fight was the featherweight debut of both men, particularly former lightweight contender Gray Maynard. Category:Lightweight fighters